Dan Mullen and his Mississippi State squad have begun preparing for Houston this week, a team they feel they should have beaten a year ago at home.

The Bulldogs turned the ball over four times and committed pivotal penalties as Houston rallied to win 31-24 in Starkville.

"We turned the ball over at critical times and had some critical penalties, really two that stopped scores for us," Mullen said. "When that stuff happens it's hard to win against a team that was ranked for much of last season. If you turn the ball over a bunch and take away two of your own scores, it's tough to win those games. That's just part of the maturing process of our team."

MSU will return the home-and-home trip traveling to the Lone Star State to take on the Cougars on their home turf for the first time since 2003.

"This is a big game for us obviously going on the road playing a very explosive team offensively," Mullen said. "They came in here and beat us last year. They are a team that is playing with a lot of confidence and in the preseason a lot of people were picking them to be a potential BCS buster. They are a team that has had a lot of success over the last two years and a lot of playmakers on offense. They have a ton of playmakers at the wide receiver position and some talented backs. They have the ability to put up a lot of points in a hurry on offense."

Houston amassed 553 yards of offense against the Bulldogs a year ago including 434 yards through the air. The Cougars had 10 different receivers catch the ball in the 2009 game in Starkville and outscored MSU 17-7 in the second half.